SA Footy

Reading review Sturt vs North today,comments made that umpiring is becoming worse each year,i wasnt at the game but since i have followed footy umpires have always copped a bagging.Never umpired myself but i think in umpires defence footy is becoming faster each year and i believe more mistakes are going to be made,just as the players make more mistakes due to the pace and turnovers are constant throughout each game.

I don't think it is the umpires, I think it's the way they're directed to umpire mainly but I could be wrong.

i think wedgie is correct it is how they are told to interpret & with this there is no feel for the game, i believe one boundary umpire got dropped from last week because he had a couple of poor throw ins, so if a field umpire has a couple of bad decisions why aren't they dropped ?


for the record i didn't think there was much wrong with the umpiring today at richmond as they let it go

bayman wrote:for the record i didn't think there was much wrong with the umpiring today at richmond as they let it go

and ... Glenelg won.

I also put it down to the pace of the game, but for a different reason.

I think peoples' perception of poor umpiring is exacerbated in today's game by the fact there are 3 umpires out there instead of 1. Many a time, two people will view an incident with diametrically opposed points of view. You say holding the ball, I say play on. So therefore it stands to reason three umpires will have subtle differences in how they make judgements, leading to inconsistent decisions.

Many is the time you see a player paid a free at one end, then the same thing happens at the other end, no free. That's life. You can't have three umpires and expect total consistencty in decisions, it is nigh impossible.

Umpiring is a difficult job, but they would make it a lot easier on themselves if they just umpired by the letter of law, not from interpretations.

Wedgie wrote:I don't think it is the umpires, I think it's the way they're directed to umpire mainly but I could be wrong.

I'd agree with that too Wedgie. Umpires make mistakes...but so do the players, its probably just more noticeable because there are less of them on the ground than there are players.
The three wise men at Woody today weren't bad IMO but the new rule with the 25M for holding on after a mark certainaly had a few players caught out and spectators scratching their heads, if its applied consistetly players will adjust. It seems to be a bit over the top especially if the defending player gets done for trying to stop a guy playing on...if they hold the guy up and give away 25M they cop it from the coach, if they let him go and a goal results they will cop it from the coach....some that were pinged today seemed no worse than ones that weren't...but how do you get consistency??

was at prospect today and while I didn't think it was too bad, there seemed to be a HUGE amount of 25's and 50m penalties dished out today, at a guess I'd say 15+ and some were a straight out 50 or a doubled up 25, not sure the occasion. Some of these seem to be very ticky touch and I'm not sure they're really a part of the game. The other part of it is that there needs to be a moritorium on rule changes so they only occur every few years and not every year, at least it gives the umps a chance to umpire to a set of rules.

Went to my first game of sanfl today with a North Adelaide supporting mate. This umpire was an absolute discrace, made some shocking decisions, he seriously looks like a kid! how old is he and why is he doing SANFL league!

There was a 25 paid today in a play on situation. There was no mark, no free kick was payed, just a contested ball situation in free play and all of a sudden a 25 was called. All the players looked at eachother wondering what the hell was going on.

Columbo wrote:

Wedgie wrote:I don't think it is the umpires, I think it's the way they're directed to umpire mainly but I could be wrong.

I'd agree with that too Wedgie. Umpires make mistakes...but so do the players, its probably just more noticeable because there are less of them on the ground than there are players.
The three wise men at Woody today weren't bad IMO but the new rule with the 25M for holding on after a mark certainaly had a few players caught out and spectators scratching their heads, if its applied consistetly players will adjust. It seems to be a bit over the top especially if the defending player gets done for trying to stop a guy playing on...if they hold the guy up and give away 25M they cop it from the coach, if they let him go and a goal results they will cop it from the coach....some that were pinged today seemed no worse than ones that weren't...but how do you get consistency??

Yeah, I could see there were far too many 25 metre penalties paid today. But, I know this is an instruction, and apart from that, it wasn't too bad. My favourite mistake was when Lee Staple fell over Cheep and Cheep got the free kick for in the back!

jake the snake wrote:Went to my first game of sanfl today with a North Adelaide supporting mate. This umpire was an absolute discrace, made some shocking decisions, he seriously looks like a kid! how old is he and why is he doing SANFL league!

He must be about approx 20 years old as i remember him playing in my sons soccer team and he just turned 20.

he should stick to soccer, has no feel for the game!

jake the snake wrote:Went to my first game of sanfl today with a North Adelaide supporting mate. This umpire was an absolute discrace, made some shocking decisions, he seriously looks like a kid! how old is he and why is he doing SANFL league!

Sounds like Deboy hasn't improved over the summer then - he seriously over-umpired the Glenelg v Eagles game at the Bay late last year.

What makes it more frustrating for a supporter is if a similar incident occurs shortly after but not paid because of a different umpire officiating - the one thing worse than over-umpiring is the differences in interpretation between umpires.

jake the snake wrote:he should stick to soccer, has no feel for the game!

i wonder if that was the dude sucked in by mcconnell last year at the bay, maybe against wwt?

CUTTERMAN wrote: The other part of it is that there needs to be a moritorium on rule changes so they only occur every few years and not every year, at least it gives the umps a chance to umpire to a set of rules.

I agree quite strongly with that.

Hopeful Jelly wrote: What makes it more frustrating for a supporter is if a similar incident occurs shortly after but not paid because of a different umpire officiating - the one thing worse than over-umpiring is the differences in interpretation between umpires.

Totally agree with that!

There was an idea bandied about a couple of seasons ago to have only one umpire and then empower boundary umps' to recommend frees to the field umpire. I think extra boundary umps' was part of the idea also.
This made great sense to me. It would allow a single, more consistent interpretation, as well as providing extra sets of eyes for the men in white to pick up on obvious discrepencies that happen on field.

stampy wrote:

jake the snake wrote:he should stick to soccer, has no feel for the game!

i wonder if that was the dude sucked in by mcconnell last year at the bay, maybe against wwt?

The one and only.

why would the umpires be directed to pay so many 25metre penalties .And no I'm complaining about Eagles being hard done by as both sides in both levels yesterday gave away so many frees.

Don't we all love to hate the umpires.

Have you ever been an umpire?

It's harder than you think.

I am an umpire fan.

People who attended the Saturday matches seem to have trouble with the 25 metre penalty rules, whereas those of us who were at Thursday night's game had problems with the inconsistency in the holding the ball rule.

Dog_ger wrote:Don't we all love to hate the umpires.
Have you ever been an umpire?
It's harder than you think.
I am an umpire fan.

Yes, I have.
Yes, it is a difficult job.

But I think there are a few basics that they often frustrate us with...

1. Positioning - too often they appear out of position & 'guess' when making a decision

2. The 'Holding the Ball' Rule - is becoming increasingly frustrating for fans (let alone what the players must think!!!) - they continue to reward the bloke 2nd for the ball & not only that, too often give the bloke WITH the ball too little time to dispose of it.

Modern footy makes it very hard to get hold of it (tackling pressure, etc.) - it beggers the question, why would I go & get it, when I can 'hang off', wait for my opponent to get it, then be rewarded for 'pinning him' the INSTANT he does get it - CRAZY rule IMHO.

3. Pathetic Ruck infringments - it's a CONTACT sport FFS, let it go!

It is very easy to criticise umpires - they are easy targets & BOTH sets of supporters hate them, but I must say that there are some 'running around' that obviously didn't 'play' all that much footy BEFORE umpiring & that appears to limit their understanding of 'player issues' on the ground. - THE fittest blokes out on the ground ARE the 'Boundry Boys, I might add

LoudEagleHooligan wrote:

Dog_ger wrote:Don't we all love to hate the umpires.
Have you ever been an umpire?
It's harder than you think.
I am an umpire fan.

Yes, I have.
Yes, it is a difficult job.

But I think there are a few basics that they often frustrate us with...

1. Positioning - too often they appear out of position & 'guess' when making a decision

2. The 'Holding the Ball' Rule - is becoming increasingly frustrating for fans (let alone what the players must think!!!) - they continue to reward the bloke 2nd for the ball & not only that, too often give the bloke WITH the ball too little time to dispose of it.

Modern footy makes it very hard to get hold of it (tackling pressure, etc.) - it beggers the question, why would I go & get it, when I can 'hang off', wait for my opponent to get it, then be rewarded for 'pinning him' the INSTANT he does get it - CRAZY rule IMHO.

3. Pathetic Ruck infringments - it's a CONTACT sport FFS, let it go!

It is very easy to criticise umpires - they are easy targets & BOTH sets of supporters hate them, but I must say that there are some 'running around' that obviously didn't 'play' all that much footy BEFORE umpiring & that appears to limit their understanding of 'player issues' on the ground. - THE fittest blokes out on the ground ARE the 'Boundry Boys, I might add

There has been a particular focus on one particular interpertation of the holding the ball rule this year as shown in the AFL laws dvd.
it states that even if a player has no prior oppotunitythat if correctly tackled, then they must make an ATTEMPT to dispose of the football. if the player just absorbs the tackle or holds the ball in without making any attempt then he will be pinged.